Examples
by sliceofpie
Summary: Thalia/Luke. Slightly AU. "She also remembered all the good in him...His touch, his laugh, every situation they worked themselves out of. He reached one hand out to her, touching her face. This time, however, she didn't push it away."


_Hi everyone. Yeah, I wrote a Thuke fic. Yeah, it's slightly AU, but hey, why not wing it? These are some of my favourite characters, so I thought I'd give it a go. Thoughts? Anyway, without further ado, here is Examples._

"_**Could you remind me of a time when we were so alive? Do you remember that? Do you remember that?" – Paramore, Franklin**_

_Example 1: Reminiscing_

She missed those days.

They became more and more rare; he'd stopped being around, available. Their separation was becoming more apparent, and though neither had mentioned it, their lives were too hectic to continue the blissful relationship that was, frankly put, young love. At least, as simply as they had been before.

It was her fault. She knew. She was withdrawn, almost gone from his life. From Annabeth's life. Even if she was around them all constantly, she was withdrawn. It was hard on them, she knew, and she knew she was being nothing but selfish. But something in what she was doing felt…Peaceful. Settled. It was like she was taking root, removed from the danger she seemed to always be in.

But it was an illusion, as always, and she missed the feeling of waking up in his warm arms, his breathing deep next to her. She missed the rush that came with breaking the law, stealing to stay alive. She missed blissful underage sex, that made her feel older than she was. More responsible.

She missed feeling like the three of them were a family, runaways from broken homes, and parents that never truly cared.

But in her mind, she'd come to terms with it. She was considering giving up the gun, simply leaving and heading to the nearest social worker. But no doubt they'd send her back to her mother, a drunk, and she'd be right back where she started.

But maybe she could help her mother. That was what was settling in her mind. Maybe her mother needed her help. Maybe together, they could repair what had previously been broken.

But there was Luke. Her thoughts were normally a whirlwind, and her piercing blue eyes never let her emotions betray her. But Luke was something else. She knew she could never leave him, but she was making their relationship strained.

She wanted to voice her opinions to him, but she knew what his answer would be.

'_Thalia, you know what will happen. You'll have to be the parent again.'_

Was she not the parent now? Annabeth needed the two of them more than they needed her. Of course, she'd never abandon Annabeth, but she was figuratively where she'd been before. And not to mention, she occasionally thought Annabeth shot her evils. Annabeth had quickly developed a child-like attraction to Luke, and perhaps that was why.

And Thalia couldn't blame her. She'd been smitten with Luke within seconds, herself. But the difference was, Luke and Thalia were a…were a couple. They were together, and Thalia was making things hard.

She sighed, running her hands through her black, spiky hair. She rested her hands on her knees, clothed in ripped skinny jeans, and pushed herself upwards, off the tattered chair in the run-down warehouse. They'd have to move on soon, even if this had been quite a find.

She tip-toed past a sleeping Annabeth, and pushed open an office door. Perhaps this had once belonged to a supervisor, but now it was unofficially Luke's.

He rested his head on one hand, his blonde hair tousled and the scar down his face aging the boy prematurely. His eyes were downcast and narrowed, and he was regarding a dirty-looking newspaper. The date was current, however, but he seemed to be having trouble reading it.

Of course. He was dyslexic, like she was, and Annabeth. But that didn't stop him trying.

His eyes darted upwards once he heard movement, and a smile spread across his face, though strained.

She crossed the room, perching on the edge of the desk. He smile faded.

"There's that look."

"What look?"

"The one that means you have something to say, which isn't exactly heart-warming."

She sighed. He knew her too well.

"Yeah," she answered, and he sighed in response.

"What is it?" He asked, and she shrugged.

"I've been thinking about…Well, just considering the possibility, kinda, of maybe going back to my mom," she said, and she waited.

There was silence, and then sure enough…

"Thalia, you know what'll happen-"

"Yeah, I know, Luke! _I'll be the parent again!_ But maybe I have to try and help her!" Thalia snapped, her short temper apparent. Luke didn't flinch. He was used to it. He was silent for a long time, before answering again.

"I know."

"You know what?" She snapped back.

"I know that's what you've been thinking about the past few weeks. You've been…Distant," he said, standing up and sliding onto the desk, sitting next her. She cast her eyes down.

"I didn't mean to be," she muttered, and he rolled his eyes.

"I know, but it was only a matter of time, Thals. But what about us?" He asked, and her blue eyes snapped back to his.

"I don't know. Maybe you can find Annabeth's dad, and-"

"Thalia, I'd figure that out later. But I mean _us_. We haven't talked like this in a long time," he stated, and Thalia felt her heart skip. She may have been fifteen, and he may have been sixteen, but the two were more mature than they let on.

And as quickly as it had skipped, she felt her heart sink. She'd been now almost set on going back to L.A. But he'd just had to ask that question, and now everything was back in limbo. He looked…Sad. Tired.

And she didn't want to leave him. He'd never let her down, never before. And she stared at him, meeting his gaze.

She slowly and hesitantly kissed him, and it turned into a more passionate one. It wasn't a first. Anything but. But this was her silent assurance that she wasn't leaving. Not yet. And as his hand crept beneath her t-shirt, she knew right then that she was staying.

_Example 2: Rage_

Luke's face contorted with rage as he kicked a dumpster.

Annabeth rested a hand on his arm, but he shook it off. Thalia didn't flinch, spiky hair moving ever so slightly in the wind. Her expression was pained, but she did nothing to try and intervene with his smashing things.

That was something he both loved and hated about her. He loved that she let him take his time to be angry. To let him have his own time. He hated that she did nothing, even if he'd just push her away.

With a slight yell, he kicked the dumpster once more, swiveling and resting his back against a brick wall of the alleyway. He slid down, so he was on the dirty ground, and rested his head in his hands. That was when Thalia crouched next to him, hugging him tightly. He let the tears fall, and Annabeth hovered uncertainly.

He'd just visited his mother, hoping she'd been alright. That maybe all his memories were twisted somehow. That she'd gotten better while he was gone. Anything.

The harsh reality was that she was doing terribly. The house was worse than normal, and she'd had absolutely no human contact, apart from him and possibly his father, since he'd left. He'd wanted to cry. He'd wanted to scream. He'd wanted to hug her, and reassure her everything was alright.

But he couldn't do anything.

He'd had Thalia stay with Annabeth while he went to see his mother, but of course, that had been the time his father had paid a visit, just to further fuck with his mother's head. It was his fault she was like this in the first place.

Luke couldn't quite prove it. He didn't quite know what his father had done or said, but something to do with his father had put her in this state. It had just happened, one day, and that was it. His father had disappeared again, and his mother had slowly gone crazy.

It wasn't safe for Luke to be there. That's why he'd left. But something Thalia had said, months before, about going back to her mother, made Luke want to pay May Castellan a visit.

He'd never stopped loving his mother, and that was exactly what his father, Hermes, had claimed about himself.

Hermes didn't back up his claim, however, but turned to Luke as Luke entered the house. His gaze wasn't angry. It was just that same, pathetic sad as normal. Luke stopped dead in his tracks, glaring at Hermes.

May had flown around the corner, her eyes bright and scarily full of expression as she did so. She was in a worse state of disarray then he'd ever seen her before. She smelled bad, looked worse, and the house was a wreck. He smelled burning and mould, and May had enveloped him in a hug, too strong for the mad woman she seemed to portray.

"Luke! You've come back!" She called, to no one in particular. Hermes sighed, wrapping an arm around May. That irked Luke.

"Get your hands off her, you good for nothing dick!" Luke snapped, and Hermes said nothing. Well, he said something. But Luke counted it as nothing.

"You should go, son," he murmured, as May babbled into Hermes' hold that Luke had come back.

That had made Luke angry. Angry enough to punch Hermes.

Hermes let it happen, which angered Luke more. May stopped talking, frowning at Luke. He then felt guilty, just by the disapproving gaze she rested on him. It was like the old days. The days in which she'd been a mother and not a charge.

"Luke…why did you do that?" She asked, softly. Luke bit his lip.

"Because he's a hypocrite who's telling me I need to leave!" Luke spat, but May had lost the attention span, shuffling to the kitchen. Hermes never took his gaze from Luke.

"You need to leave, Luke," he said, again. Luke visibly shook with rage.

"Why do you say that? You're the one who needs to leave!"

"You'll just leave again."

Luke stood in silence. He wouldn't disagree. But the way his father was regarding him was like he knew something Luke didn't, like Hermes had done more for May than Luke had known.

But he hadn't. He'd just fucked her around, and made her life the way it was. Technically, she should be in an Institution, but Luke couldn't do anything, and no one had seen May. Hermes wouldn't do it, so here she was.

"Don't think badly of me, Luke. Please," Hermes began, "But you being here will only make her worse."

And Hermes had a point. Luke was trying hard not to cry. Angry tears, he liked to think, but there was emotion to them, stronger than anger. He shouldn't have come back, and Hermes had told him that. And Hermes was right.

But what annoyed him more was the fact that Hermes had never once been unkind to Luke. But he'd never really been there for him, either, which in a way was what Luke perceived as Hermes' silent betrayal.

Luke had wrenched the door open, flying out of the house before his mother returned. What had he done?

That had achieved nothing, and Luke could almost hear May's sobs in his mind. They would have been his fault. He ran all the way back to where he'd left Thalia and Annabeth, and proceeded to kick the crap out of everything in sight, minus his friends.

That brought him back to the present. Thalia's spiky hair brushed his cheek, and he realized he was crying. He quickly wiped his face.

"I hate my father," he murmured, reinstating his mantra.

Thalia and he had discussed this for as long as they had known each other. They both hated their fathers, and they discussed how they'd be better than them, one day. But now, Luke felt lower than he could ever imagine.

And that led him to lash out as those he loved.

For example, later that day, Thalia had left, and it had been his fault.

They'd been arguing on and off for about an hour, and he'd become increasingly angry and grown louder by the second.

She'd tried to console him, but he'd pushed her away. He knew that would happen, but he didn't imagine he'd fly into a blind rage. But his anger could not match hers, at least normally, and he'd given her plenty of reason to get angry. But today, he'd far surpassed her.

"Why don't you just go back to your mother, huh? At least she's not stark-raving mad!" He remembered shouting. Annabeth had hidden, and it was just a match between the two. Thalia shook her head, her voice deadly calm.

"Don't take it out on me, Luke. You chose to run away. You knew what it entailed. So did I. And I'm here as long as we're a _team. _I'm not leaving_,_" she answered. But Luke wasn't listening.

"Don't bullshit me, Thalia! You were going to leave. You were going to ditch us, like you ditched your mom! You were gunna go back to her. She's probably too far gone, but you were going to leave us, anyway!" He'd shouted, through tears. Thalia's face twisted, her anger flaring, but she stepped closer to him, trying to reach out to him.

"Luke, I'm sorry your mom's too far gone. But please, Luke. Please don't take it out on me. And I didn't leave you. I stayed," she murmured. But Luke threw one fist out at her, as though aiming to slay his own overwhelming emotions, not realizing she was so close.

He swore it was an accident. Or so he liked to think. He'd punched her all the same. He'd never done that before, and he realized his mistake immediately, a cold pit sinking in his stomach. What had he done?

He snapped out of his blind rage when she gasped in pain, a hand clamped over her eye as she stumbled backwards. She removed it, and he could tell he'd just given her a black eye. It was going to be a dark shadow within the hour. She stared at him, in the ominous silence, before slapping him back. He did nothing in return. He deserved it. He deserved more than a slap, actually.

She turned on her heel.

"Thalia…" He murmured, not making a move after her, no matter how painful the emotion in his voice.

"That's it, Luke. I draw the line at you hitting me, no matter how angry you are. Have a good life," she called over her shoulder, her voice quivering, but still maintaining the strength she had when she was angry.

He slid into a crouch, his head in his hands. Everything didn't make sense. He wasn't sure what had happened; a blind rage and anger he wasn't in control of had just come over him. It was like he was watching a bad movie, watching himself screw things up.

It had all slipped away, that quickly. And it had been his fault.

What had he done?

_Example 3: Reality_

Luke stared Thalia down, and she knew now, the Luke she'd loved was gone. He'd left the day he punched her. Or else, why would she be here? Why had he followed her, why had he used Annabeth as leverage?

True, Thalia had come here of her own free will. Annabeth's boyfriend had called Thalia, a few years after she'd left them all behind. He'd apparently found her number on Annabeth's phone. He'd told her, panicked, how Annabeth had disappeared. This Percy guy had flown out to L.A., and the two had journeyed here, to Mt. Tam.

Thalia was confused. Percy babbled about this camp, talking about 'mortals' as if the two of them were not. Like Annabeth, he and Thalia, and even Luke, were not human.

She didn't like that, but she had to admit, something was both settling and unsettling about that idea. But she'd tackle that later, and maybe go see a therapist or something. Right now, it was time to save Annabeth, whatever that entailed.

Annabeth was buckling, holding something up. Something Thalia couldn't see. All she could see, besides Annabeth, was Luke, and his face, smooth, settled, but with a tense jaw. Her blue eyes sparkled with anger, as Percy dove for Annabeth in a split second position.

"Luke's all yours!" Percy called, and Thalia grimaced.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Luke murmured, unfolding his arms and taking a few steps closer to Thalia, who balled her fists. Luke reached out a hand, resting it on Thalia's cheek.

"I have so much to tell you," he murmured. Thalia quickly batted his hand away, and he recoiled. She noticed, then, his voice was thinner. Tired. And his eyes – They were framed by bags, and shifted uncomfortably. She knew something was wrong with him. This wasn't the cool, calm and collected Luke she remembered.

He was also dressed weirdly; jeans and a polo shirt, with Greek armor strapped over the top and a…Dear God, was that a sword?

She was beginning to believe Percy's seemingly weird claims. _'He's made a deal with a Titan. You're a child of a God – Probably Zeus. It's amazing you haven't been killed yet.' _Charming claims like that.

"Luke…What happened to you?" She asked, her anger temporarily dissipating, a cold mask of fog and mist now hanging in the air. He shrugged, spreading his hands.

"I grew up. Figured out what I was. What side I was on. How about you? If you just listened to me…You could be a truly powerful demigod. We could have everything we ever wanted, starting with revenge on our fathers," he murmured. There was that word again. _Demigod._

Thalia shook her head, though she had to admit that was almost tempting.

"You're deluded."

Thalia was confused. Her entire lifestyle had just shifted rapidly.

_Thalia, either your tripping, or that goat man a few years ago was telling the truth. _All this shit didn't happen to normal people.

Either seemed to be a possibility at this moment, and Thalia turned again to Luke. He smiled, though it was thin and didn't seem like him at all.

"Thalia…Think about it. We could be together again," he began, and then his face twisted, like he didn't believe a word of that. Thalia regarded him, eyes steely and resolute, though her true feelings were anything but. He'd hurt her, and she couldn't ignore that.

And when she thought about it, he looked lost. Not the Luke she remembered, but his face was pained, like he wanted to tell her something, but he found it hard to say.

"Thalia..." he muttered, beginning again. His eyes were beseeching. "Gods, Thalia. What have I done?"

He winced like he had just remembered he had to do something unpleasant, and Thalia shook her head.

"I don't understand. What's with your bipolar attitude towards me?"

"You're half god, half human. Your father was never around because he was Zeus. You need to know that. You also need to know I made a bad decision, both when I hit you back then, and more recently. Someone else is now in control of my life, and Thalia, you need to run. Run, or kill me, now, before you get roped into this. That, or you need to join me. That's what's up," he said, and she looked at him like he was crazy. But in that split second, she remembered everything weird that had happened in her life. Every weird person, incidence, feeling.

She also remembered all the good between her and Luke, before that day. His touch, his laugh, every situation they worked themselves out of. He reached one hand out to her, touching her face. This time, however, she didn't push it away.

"Way to make life hard. I'm still kind of angry at you," She murmured, and he opened his mouth, before he shook his head. She had to admit, she wanted to forgive him, and there was a part of her that knew he was the 'bad guy' on the 'bad side', and Percy and Annabeth were 'the good guys' on the 'good side'. But she was also tempted to join him, let him teach her about this weird other life.

And the possibility she could be powerful…That sent butterflies through her stomach. She'd never been powerful – Only annoyingly powerless. She couldn't help her brother, nor save him from whatever her mother had done with him. She couldn't save her mother. She'd killed herself in a drunken car crash, and Thalia couldn't stop that.

But here was the offer to be with Luke, start again. Have power, to be able to be in control of something. _Anything_.

But then again, he'd hurt her. What was to say he wouldn't do it again?

"Don't listen to him, Thalia!" called Percy, and Luke sighed as he saw Thalia's steely resolution reset. He knew he'd lost her, then and there.

"No, Luke. I won't join you," she said, her voice strong, and he believed he could hear a hint of hurt and possibly sadness throughout. He thought as much as far as her response, however. She was too proud, and perhaps a lot stronger willed.

He sighed. "Thalia, you should have run, then. Because now, I'm obliged to kill you. And I really, really don't want to do that. Bigger things are happening, and you just so happen to be part of them," Luke answered, and Thalia was sure, then, there would never be a future between them. Whatever pain that came with the love she'd previously possessed by him shriveled away, and was replaced by pure betrayal and anger. Luke was gone. Some sociopath had replaced him.

Luke drew his sword, and Thalia realized that all this madness was actually real. She was underprepared, and Luke's sword was very real. The _danger_ was very real. Percy shouted somewhere behind her, and Annabeth was in no state to help her.

For some reason, this fueled her anger. She hated when other people had the upper hand over her. Perhaps it was her imagination, or perhaps it actually happened. She bargained for the latter, but it was hard to get her head around the fact she was not simply human. But either way, the air around her seemed to crackle with electricity.

Suddenly, she swore she heard a distant rumble. Luke paled, more so than he was any way. He charged her, and she deftly dodged, coming up close, and placing a hand on his chest. A powerful jolt of electricity channeled through her, and the smell of burning clothes and flesh filled her nostrils.

Luke flew backwards, and a brief feeling of triumph surged through Thalia. But that was quickly replaced by cold fear, as he tumbled a bit too far, and disappeared over the edge of a cliff. Luke plummeted of Mt. Tam, and it was her fault.

"Luke!" Annabeth screamed, and Thalia dropped to her knees, tired, but numb, as though she couldn't comprehend how quickly everything had changed.


End file.
